Chair and other article



July so, 1929. H, E, BARTOW 1,722,264

CHAIR AND OTHER ARTICLE Filed May 31, 1924 Patented July 30, 1929.

UNET

HARRY E. BAR/TOW, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'I'O FREDERICK EXNER,OF BROOHYN, NEVT YORK.

CHAIR AND OTHER ARTICLE.

Application finana 31,

acteristics similar to the well-known wicker furniture. Chairs and thelike made by covering skeleton frames and other forms with braided orwoven materials have been used for many years. Such materials have beenflags, rush, grass and other vegetable fibres, paper, etc., but seriousdefects have been recognized in the use of all these substances. Thesearticles have been coated with various substances to give them stabilityand an attractive appearance, but this has not been sufiicient to savethem from early deterioration in appearance and strength. Recognizingthese defects, I have sought to overcome them, While producing a fabrichaving an equally attractive appearance and in many forms more beautifulthan similar articles have ever been.

I have considered that it is important to first provide a braid fromwhich the chairs and other articles shall be shaped. This braid consistsof a plurality of colored cord,

usually multi-colored, or threads, woven or braided together in tubularform over a common hempen core or base, of indefinite length and ofuniform diameter at all points, being without oints, and so that anydesired length of braid may be cut off by the workmen from time to timewhen covering an article. The cords or threads are of twine or string,made up of as many members as desired that are suitably interwoven orinterlaced, and the braid before being woven in the chair, or afterbeing so woven, at either or bothtim'es, is impregnated with a hardeningsubstance of any suitable or proper kind, like varnish, glue or thelike.

4.0, In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated by way of exampleonly, a chair made in accordance with myinvention; but I desire to haveit especially understood that my invention comprehends and includes alsocarriages, settees, desks, and many other forms of manufacture. In thedrawings,

Figure 1 is a front view of a well-known form of chair, constructed inaccordance with my pre'sentimproved method and the use of the novelmaterials which I have devised.

Figure 2 is an enlarged'plan view of part of the seat section of thechair, showing the manner in which the braided material is a very greatvariety of furniture and other 7 articles, such as tables, lamp-stands,baby- 1924. Serial No. 716,985.

woven therein for the stiff and effective seat.

F igure 3 is a cross-section of the seat portIOII represented in Figure2.

F igure 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the braid material,showing the inner core, and indicating the strands or cords of which thebraid. is composed, the same in this mstance being of two colors only,as white and black. a

Figure 5 is a cross-section of the braid shown in Figure 4 taken at anydesired point in its lengtl Figure 6 is a plan view of aportion of thesame braid when differently composed of constituent cords, in thisexample there being sixteen cords of varying colors.

Similar characters of reference designate correspondin parts throughoutall the differpurpose of. making a D ent figures of the drawing.

In constructing a chair for example, it is customary to first form askeleton frame of the chair, or other article, by means of bent piecesof wood and reeds 10, 10. I do not contemplate any particular change insuch frames, and as the reeds may be arranged in a great many ways,partaking of all sorts of forms and combinations, all of which arewithin the'scope of my invention, I have not thought it necessary toillustrate the details of all the parts of the skeleton chair frame. Ingeneral, however, I may say that wood is employed to form the mainoutline of the frame of the article, whatever it maybe, while reeds areused as stay members with which the braid can be interwoven as is shownin Figures 2 and 3. Of coursethereeds are only used where the section ofsurface to be covered is of substantial area. The legs, rounds, and someof the other parts of the chair, as is usual, are covered by merelywinding the braid around them; and this is true of other articles, aswell as of chairs. In some instances, the part is covered by merelywinding the braid about it and in other cases the braid is interwovenwith the reeds or other equivalent supports. I

' Icome now to a description of the most important part of my inventionwhich is the development of the braid material, which forms thesuperficial area of the chair or other article, giving the latter itsattractiy e appearance and making it unique in form and substance, anddistinguishing the products of my method from all others of analagousclasses.

The braid, as 2, is shown in Figure 4:, in scribed, the fabric as awhole is treated with one form, and in Figure 6 in another form, saidforms difiering only in their colors and in the number of strands orcords employed, though it will be noted that for purposes of explanationI am utilizing sixteen cords or strands, woven or interlaced or plaitedtogether to make a single braided member, as the latter is indicated inFigures at and 6. 5 denotes the core or base of the braid which runsthrough the center of the latter and around which the cordsor threads ofthe braid are wovenin a sortof a tubular outer shell or envelope whichembraces and conceals within it, the hemp base. Said base is ordinaryManila twine and may consist of five strands as indicated in Figure 5,although I do not wish to be limited to any particular kind of hemp baseor core. I11 Figure 4, the sixteen cords or thread are part of themwhite, as 4, and part of them black, as 3, the number of strands beingthus. divided into only two colors in this example, but the contrast ofthe colors is attractive and makes a braid which will weave into a veryhandsome chair. In Figure 6, I use several colors for the strands, itbeing noted that there are red strands 6, blue strands 7, yellow strands8, and white strands 9, four of each color, in order to embellish theappearance of the resultant braid and thereby impart a different finishand appearance to the chair or other article. Ofcourse, the braid may bemade up of strands that are all of one color, so that I can employstrands that are all white, or

strands that are all black, or strands that are all red, and thusproduce respectively white, black or red braid, and braids of one colorcan be interwoven with braids of another color, so as to impart almostany kind of an appearance to the chair and make it contrast with otherarticles of furniture. Besides all this it will be understood that inalmost an infinite variety of forms the weaving of the multicolored orsingle colored braids in different portions of the article will heightenthe unique and effective appearance of the design. In the drawingI haveused the conventional method of delineating the colors for the different strands of the braid, as the rules of practice.

The frames of the ered by my plaited or interlaced braided material invery much the same way, therefore, as articles have heretofore beencovered with paper, flags, etc., with the important differences inappearance and arrangement which prescribed by I havepointed out, andwith this very important difierence that there are no project- .ingends, caused at different points by using a limited length of material,inasmuch as the braid is of indefinite length and the whole article offurniture may be woven of one continuous strip. After the frame of thechair or article is covered in the way I havedeusage.

different articles are cova suitable hardening substance, for which Ipreferably use melted glue or shellac which may be applied by a brush orotherwise, al-

though I prefer to dip the article bodily into a tank of melted glue, asthis causes the entire surface of the fabric to be entirely covered andenables the glue or cement to find its way into all the parts andinterstices as well as the surface line, and therefore when the coatingdries the article is hard and stiff, so that it is sulficientlyunyielding to be very serviceable and durable. The strands of the braidwill not slip on each other and the windings or rolls of braid will foran indefinite time adhere to each other, thus ensuring a close, tightfabric throughout the entire covering. Should there happen to be anyprojecting ends, of which there must be very few, and very short, therewill be no tendency for the strands to slip. The constituent cords or.threads, of which the braid is formed, may each be treated with somesuitable. kind of coating, before they are woven, in order that theresulting braid may have a certain amount of stiffness and the cordsmaybe compacted together more or less closely during the weavingoperation, which will contribute to the strong and stiff character ofthe chair after the braid has been woven through it. The weaving or,plaiting of the multiplicity of cords, strings, or small ropes over thecentral core 5, may be performed in any kind of a machine that issuitable for the purpose and I do not wish to be restricted to anyparticular kind; nor is it necessary to describe in detail the mechanismof such a machine as it may vary widely and I commonly employ machinesused for the weaving of other braids for other purposes. It will benoted that such machine, however, must be adapted to the weaving of atubularbraid, similar to the insulation covering which is employed withan electrical conductor, for it is desirable that the threads or strandsshould interlace. closely in order that the braid fabric may havestability and thus be adapted to withstand hard The frame constructionin Figure 1 may consist of suitable pieces; say, four pieces of lumbertwo inches by one joined together by two inch dowel pins and glued legsand cross braces one inch wood dowels. Braces also are wood dowels underseat, Reed stakes are used to hold the weaving braid Figure 4 inposition as shown at 10. The braid in Figure 4 consists of six ply ropefor core 5 reinforced by sixteen strands dyed cot- 1 ton glazed threads,3 and 4:.- Braid can be made with from one to sixteen colors as desired.Diameter of braid can be-made in various sizes as the occasion mayrequire; it can also be made without rope ,core ifso desired. Theweaving is done by hand as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Advan tagesover any and all wicker furniture made are strength, durability,attractiveness and finish. All coloring is woven in braid to eliminateall paint, enamel, varnish or lead. There is no danger ofthe finishchipping, cracking, blistering or rubbing off. To add to the strength ofthe practically indestructi ble piece of furniture, as received from theweaver, as Figure 1 shows, it is then dipped in a vat of hot transparentsizing glue to stiffen and also give a color protection for the dyes.l/Vhen thoroughly dry two coats of white shellac are used as the finalprotection for the article.

An article of furniture constructed as described has, besides theadvantages which so as to be comparatively hard and smooth.

Such braided material, therefore, does not become readily soiled whilewaiting application to the frame of the chair or other article, and sowhen the final protecting coating of varnish or shellac is applied tothe finished article its exposed surfaces, formed mainly of the braidedcovering, are clean and such surfaces, as has been stated, will notthereafter easily become soiled, as would be the case were they rough orhave fine free fibers projecting therefrom. The form of braided coveringwhich I prefer to use .and which has been described, namely, one havinga central core, such as indicated at 5 in the drawings, and a smoothhard finished braided covering for the core, possesses characteristicsadapting it peculiarly for use as a filling or cover in themanufacturing of furniture. Thus, While the strand has a hard smoothsurface such as has just been described withits incident advantages,taken as a whole, it is somewhat soft and elastic due to its core 5.This is of advantage in the applicationof the strands as the article isfrom what it is at another place. The covering may thus be nicely fittedto the article being produced, even though the exposed surface isirregular so that the strands are necessarily crowded together in someareas of the surface and not crowded in others. The hempen cores of thestrands also give certain elasticity or resiliency to the covering,

thus adding to the comfort of a user of the article; and this elasticityis largely maintained after the final coatings of hardening materialhave been applied, because the braided coverings of the individualstrands very largely protect the inner cores from the fluid coatingemployed to protect and finish the surfaces of the article.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A chair or other article, comprising a frame and a covering therefor,consisting of a braid composed of a plurality of closely interwovenstrands in tubular form on an inner hemp base, the article beingsubjected after its completion, to a bath which covers the entiresurface of the frame and permeates all the openings between the braidmaterial and frame as well as the surfaces of same.

2. A chair or similar article, comprising a skeleton frame and acovering applied thereto, the latter consisting of braided material ofindefinite length formed of a relatively soft flexible fibrous core anda covering therefor of hard and smooth surfaced braided fibrous strands.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my signature.

HARRY E. BARTOW.

